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balanced Corporate-readable

Soft shadows, conservative radii, smooth motion, WCAG-AA contrast on brand. This site's moss skin.

radius_scale shadow_intensity motion_speed

glass Frosted SaaS

Translucent panels, larger radii, diffuse shadows, emphasised motion. This card is frosted.

blur_amount surface_transparency shadow_softness

brutalist Hard & structural

Zero radius (except pill), hard offset shadows, instant motion, saturated accents. Note this card's edge.

shadow_offset contrast_boost shadow_color_mode

balanced / glass / brutalist Deterministic from a seed Tunable knobs

Skin algorithms

You do not hand-pick 41 colours. You pick a seed colour and an algorithm, and the algorithm derives the full token contract — every surface, state, border and shadow — with the contrast relationships that keep it accessible. The same seed through three algorithms gives three personalities.

Three personalities

balanced — corporate-readable. Soft drop shadows, conservative radii, smooth transitions, WCAG-AA contrast on brand. The reliable default (this site's moss skin). Knobs: radius_scale, shadow_intensity, motion_speed.
glass — modern SaaS. Translucent frosted panels, larger radii, diffuse shadows, emphasised motion. Knobs: blur_amount, surface_transparency, shadow_softness.
brutalist — bold and structural. Zero radius (except pill), hard offset shadows, instant motion, saturated accents. Knobs: shadow_offset, contrast_boost, shadow_color_mode.

Knobs tune character without leaving the contract — the output is always the same 41 tokens, just with different values.

Generation-by-algorithm makes a skin reproducible, accessible by construction, and cheap to iterate: change the seed or a knob, regenerate, done. Identity stops being a pile of hand-tuned hex that drifts and starts failing contrast, and becomes a deterministic function of (algorithm, seed, knobs). The next page shows how to generate and refine one.

1# same seed, three algorithms → three full token sets2bin/semitexa skins:generate balanced  "#2f5e52" --name=moss-balanced  --write3bin/semitexa skins:generate glass     "#2f5e52" --name=moss-glass     --write4bin/semitexa skins:generate brutalist "#2f5e52" --name=moss-brutal    --write

# same seed, three algorithms → three full token sets
bin/semitexa skins:generate balanced  "#2f5e52" --name=moss-balanced  --write
bin/semitexa skins:generate glass     "#2f5e52" --name=moss-glass     --write
bin/semitexa skins:generate brutalist "#2f5e52" --name=moss-brutal    --write

1# tune character with repeatable --knob flags (still the same contract)2bin/semitexa skins:generate balanced "#2f5e52" \3  --knob=radius_scale:rounded --knob=shadow_intensity:pronounced --write

# tune character with repeatable --knob flags (still the same contract)
bin/semitexa skins:generate balanced "#2f5e52" \
  --knob=radius_scale:rounded --knob=shadow_intensity:pronounced --write

How it works

`balanced` is corporate-readable: soft shadows, conservative radii, smooth motion, WCAG-AA contrast on brand (this site's moss skin). `glass` is modern SaaS: translucent frosted panels, larger radii, diffuse shadows, emphasised motion. `brutalist` is hard and structural: zero radius (except pill), hard offset shadows, instant motion, saturated accents. Each exposes knobs — balanced has `radius_scale`, `shadow_intensity`, `motion_speed`; glass has `blur_amount`, `surface_transparency`, `shadow_softness`; brutalist has `shadow_offset`, `contrast_boost`, `shadow_color_mode` — so you tune character without ever leaving the token contract.

Why it matters

Generation-by-algorithm means a skin is reproducible, accessible by construction, and cheap to iterate: change the seed or a knob, regenerate, done. Identity stops being a pile of hand-tuned hex values that drift and start failing contrast, and becomes a deterministic function of (algorithm, seed, knobs).